Opinion

SAL RODRIGUEZ: Make taxes a last resort

Throughout the Inland Empire, local governments are turning to taxes to make up for the shortsightedness of policymakers.

This year, the cities of Hemet, La Quinta, Menifee, Palm Desert and Riverside have discussed or are openly pursuing tax proposals. Other cities like San Jacinto and Temecula have pitched or researched tax proposals of their own.

Most of the cities – San Jacinto, La Quinta, Menifee, Palm Desert and Temecula – have been feeling the pressure of rising costs associated with contracting for policing services with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Departments. Since the recession, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors has doled out massive raises to unions representing sheriff’s employees, leading to inflated contract rates for cities contracting with the department.

Predictably, doubling the number of employees earning compensation in excess of $100,000 in a handful of years marked by relatively slow revenue growth has had repercussions across the county.

Given that contract cities don’t have a seat at the negotiating table, and the difficulty of forming a cost-effective city police department, the decisions of the Board of Supervisors have forced the cities to absorb steep cost increases that clearly outpaced revenue growth.

While none of the cities has adopted tax increases yet - it is fortunate that some of the cities have chosen to participate in a study alongside other contract cities to evaluate the feasibility of forming a joint powers authority to deliver policing services as an alternative to contracting with the country.

Fortunately, there are some signs the county might finally show some restraint. In March, the board approved a contract with the Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Association that held off on automatic pay raises for two years. The County Executive Office has also made it clear to the board that holding the line on pay raises will be critical to ensuring the county can correct its own structural deficit.

Later this year, negotiations begin with some of the unions that represent sheriff’s department employees, most notably the Riverside Sheriff’s Department. In the short run, taxpayers and policymakers in the cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department need to put pressure on the Board of Supervisors to hold the line on any additional raises.

Then there are the cities contemplating tax hikes whose problems can’t be blamed on the county.

On June 7, Hemet voters will weigh in on whether a 1 percent sales tax for public safety services is warranted. The city, which has its own police and fire services, has run consecutive deficits since the recession. While Hemet has made some prudent choices in the past year, most notably reforms to retiree health benefits, the City Council majority has been less keen on doing something as simple as finding out how much contracting out public safety services might cost.

While contracting for policing services with the county is certainly not palatable given the county’s own problems with ensuring costs are contained, Hemet’s police department has ballooned in cost as well. And while the fire department budget has been more contained, the entire reason for a tax hike is because city leaders believe the current level of service is inadequate.

Unfortunately, the City Council majority has been less interested in alternative service providers and more interested in a tax.

Meanwhile, the city of Riverside in recent months learned its $1 million surplus turned into a nearly $8 million shortfall and that bigger deficits loomed over the next couple of years unless it cut spending. In recent weeks, the city has gone through a process of budget reductions. But as part of that discussion, the city is currently evaluating whether Riverside residents might go for a tax as well.

The city got to its current position, however, by spending too much on some things while inadequately planning for infrastucture investments. Before it pursues a tax hike, the city could use some critical self-assessment and learn to get its spending in order.

Though convenient, taxes should always be a matter of last resort, as they almost always are a means of papering over systemic problems that politicians would prefer to ignore.

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